breaking hard on black ice sliding the best option if there is significant amount of black ice dont drive the next best option drive a car with a manual transmission you can use the tranny as a brake by downshifting and since that doesnt rely on friction with the road to slow you it works surprisingly well the next best option dont touch the pedals because if your car or wheels wind up turning on the ice when you regain traction and are braking or accelerating youre gon na lose control